6,000 expected at Downtown El Paso job fair

The 11th annual edition of the largest job fair in El Paso and one of the largest in Texas is set for Tuesday at the Downtown convention center.

About 260 employers with more than 6,000 jobs are scheduled to be at the job fair from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Lorenzo Reyes, chief executive officer of Upper Rio Grande Workforce Solutions, El Paso's public employment agency, said during a news conference Friday outside the convention center.

"Come prepared to interview and impress," Reyes recommended.

Last year, the fair drew 9,452 job seekers. Reyes said he expects around the same number this year.

El Paso's unemployment rate in August, released Friday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, was 8.6 percent. That's down from the 9.2 percent rate of a year ago. But it's still above the national rate of 7.3 percent, and the statewide rate of 6.4 percent.

An estimated 28,100 El Pasoans were unemployed and actively searching for a job in August, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday.

Tiffany Hathcock, 26, lost her job last year when her husband, an Army medic, was transferred from Fort Hood, Texas, to Fort Bliss. They were still living in an El Paso hotel when she heard about the Workforce Solutions job fair and decided to go, she said.

"I've attended other job fairs, and I was skeptical about this one," said Hathcock, who helped Workforce Solutions promote this year's job fair at Friday's news conference. But at the fair, she set up an interview with First Command Financial Services, and landed a job as a financial adviser -- a job she still holds, she said.

"This job fair works" because it has a wide variety of companies with a wide variety of jobs, she said. "You can leave a lasting impression with face-to-face" encounters with potential employers, she said.

Abraham Moreno, 29, also touted the job fair. He said that in 2011 he landed a job at the Adidas store in the Outlet Shoppes at El Paso. He's a manager at the store, he said.

"Persevere, you never know where the job will be," Moreno said. "The Adidas table was the last table I visited. I met my (current) boss, and we hit it off."

Moreno, who has a degree in biological science from the University of Texas at El Paso, said he plans to go back to the job fair Tuesday. He said he's now ready to enter teaching because of his degree.

The El Paso and Anthony independent school districts are among employers scheduled to be at the fair. HP (Hewlett Packard), Texas Tech, UTEP, Wal-Mart, several other retailers, restaurants, call centers, and banks are among other employers expected at the fair. Workforce Solutions has a map with the employers listed on its Web site (urgjobs.com/get-hired).

Reyes said last year, some scheduled employers failed to show up. This year, he said, his agency has been making a point of getting employers to confirm their attendance at the fair.